In 1917, Ezra Pound wrote to Harriet Monroe that the â€˜themeâ€™ of The Cantos was â€˜roughly the theme of Takasagoâ€™, a Japanese Noh play. Hugh Kenner in The Pound Era referred to this letter but did not elaborate on it, commenting that Pound â€˜never got round toâ€™...

This essay focuses on the contributions of the late Hugh Kenner to literary studies, particularly of his rethinking of how to think about poetry in English. International Modernism; Kenner's 1971 masterwork "The Pound Era," the massive compendium of analysis and anecdote devoted to establishing...